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The Precinct 4 Hays County Constable’s Office is using a federal program to acquire a vehicle that will make it easier to evacuate people during floods.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Hays County Commissioners Court authorized Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hood’s office to enter into an agreement with the state to receive “certain excess Department of Defense (DOD) property” under a program administered by the Defense Logistics Agency.
The agenda item prompted comments from residents concerned about local law enforcement agencies ending up with military weaponry.
“I don’t believe we need to put military grade hardware in the hands of our civil servants,” resident Harvey Jenkins said.
“These aren’t needs -- they’re toys,” resident Rodrigo Amaya said. “What’s going on in Dripping Springs? You can’t justify this.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith clarified that this agreement is a renewal of one that had been in place for a long time and that had covered the whole county. He then spoke about the flooding that occurred in Dripping Springs a few weeks ago and the lack of equipment that would have made evacuations easier. Smith said that if anyone wanted to talk about the acquisition of military equipment that could have helped move people out of danger, “I would love to have that longer discussion with anybody.”
Hood then spoke about the program and the vehicle he is looking to acquire, which he described as “basically a troop transport vehicle.”
The DOD surplus program would allow him to receive that vehicle at no cost other than the time and money required to go inspect it and bring it back.
“This vehicle, if the county were to purchase it, would cost $100,000,” Hood said. “Through this program, it’s no cost.”
The vehicle would allow for the transport of up to 20-25 people, Hood said, adding that such a vehicle would have made it easier to evacuate some apartments that were getting flooded a few weeks ago. Hood said there was 2-3 feet of water around the apartments.
“We had elderly people living there, and we had to get them out,” he said.
“Just to clarify, I’m not purchasing weapons, aircraft parts, airplanes, military equipment,” he said, adding that the military surplus program has provided items like a generator, tourniquets and medical supplies.
